1
Why the report is on this page
Most people hiring an inspector have never seen an inspection report and are about to spend the largest sum of money in their life partly on the strength of one. That is a strange way to buy something, so here is a specimen, written the way I write them.
The house below is invented. The findings are the ones that actually turn up in houses of this age around here, in roughly the proportion they turn up. A real report on a 1974 ranch runs forty to sixty pages with a photograph on most of them.
2
The defect key
Three levels, and no others. A report with nine severity grades is a report that has stopped helping you decide anything.
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SAFETY
Someone could be hurt or the house could be damaged before you get around to it. Deal with it before you move in, or before the closing if you can get it in the amendment.
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REPAIR
Broken, worn out, or wrong. It needs doing, but the timing is yours. Most of what is in a report is this.
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MONITOR
Working now, near the end of its life, or a condition that may or may not be moving. Look at it again in a year. This is not a defect and you should not ask a seller to pay for it.
3
Roof
Walked. Three tab asphalt shingles, one layer, estimated fifteen to eighteen years old against a twenty five year product.
3.1
REPAIR
Furnace flue storm collar is not sealed
The collar at the flue penetration on the south slope has no sealant and has lifted about a quarter inch on the uphill side. This is the single most common source of a ceiling stain in a house of this age and it costs almost nothing to fix while somebody is already on the roof.
Photograph to shoot here. The flue penetration from four feet away, standing uphill of it, with the lifted collar edge in sunlight so the gap reads. Include enough shingle either side that a roofer can find it from the photo alone.
Every finding in a real report carries a photograph like this. It is what stops the argument about whether the thing exists.
3.2
MONITOR
Granule loss, south and west slopes
Moderate and even, consistent with age rather than with a defect. The gutters held about half an inch of granule. The roof is not leaking today and I would not ask a seller for it, but budget a roof inside five years and get a roofer's number now rather than in a hailstorm.
4
Exterior and grading
Vinyl siding over the original masonite on three elevations. Brick veneer on the front. Grading inspected on all four sides.
4.1
REPAIR
Negative grade at the northeast corner
The ground falls back toward the foundation for about eight feet either side of the corner, and the downspout there discharges into it. This is the cause of the crawl space moisture noted at 5.2, not a separate problem, and the order matters: extend the downspout and regrade before anyone sells you a sump system.
4.2
MONITOR
Deck ledger fasteners are nails, not lag bolts
Original construction, common for 1974, and the deck is small and low. It is not moving. I would not tear it apart today, but if the deck is ever extended or the surface replaced, the ledger has to be brought up at the same time.
5
Structure and crawl space
Entered and traversed. Poured foundation walls, 2x8 floor framing at 16 inches, one steel beam on three columns.
5.1
MONITOR
Two vertical cracks in the north foundation wall
Both hairline, both dry, no displacement across either, no corresponding movement in the framing or the drywall above. Shrinkage cracks in a poured wall of this age are ordinary. Mark the ends with a pencil and a date and look again next winter.
5.2
REPAIR
Crawl space vapour barrier is torn and short of the walls
Roughly sixty percent coverage, with bare soil at the northeast corner where the moisture reading was highest. Replace it and lap it up the wall a foot. Fix the grading at 4.1 first or you will be doing this again.
Photograph to shoot here. The northeast corner of the crawl space, camera on the ground, flash on, with the torn edge of the barrier and the exposed soil both in frame and a tape measure laid across the gap for scale.
Crawl space photographs are the ones buyers look at hardest, because it is the one part of the house they will never go into themselves.
6
Electrical
150 amp service, copper branch wiring, panel opened and every breaker traced.
6.1
SAFETY
Two double tapped breakers in the main panel
Two conductors under a single breaker lug on the 20 amp breakers at positions 7 and 11. It is a twenty minute fix for an electrician and it is on the list of things I will not soften, because it is a connection that heats up inside a closed box.
6.2
SAFETY
No GFCI protection at the kitchen counter or in the bathrooms
Original to the house and legal when it was built, which does not make it safe now. Four receptacles. An electrician can protect the lot in an afternoon and it is the cheapest safety item in this report.
7
Plumbing
Copper supply, cast iron and PVC waste, 40 gallon gas water heater dated 2016. All fixtures run, all drains timed.
7.1
SAFETY
Water heater temperature and pressure discharge pipe terminates 30 inches above the floor
It should end within six inches of the floor. As it is, a discharge scalds whoever is standing there. Six dollars of pipe.
7.2
REPAIR
Hall bath lavatory drains slowly, 40 seconds to clear
Timed against a 12 second benchmark on the other lavatories. Most likely the trap, occasionally the branch. Worth a plumber's hour before you decide it is nothing, because the same symptom in a cast iron branch is a much larger conversation.
8
Heating and cooling
80 percent gas furnace dated 2009, condenser dated 2009, both operated through a full cycle. Outdoor temperature was too low to test the cooling side under load, and the report says so rather than guessing.
8.1
REPAIR
Filter slot has no cover and the return is drawing air from the utility room
Dust on the blower housing confirms it. A cover plate is a few dollars and it is the difference between a filter doing its job and a filter being decorative.
8.2
MONITOR
Both units are seventeen years old and running
Nothing is wrong with either one today. Both are past the age at which I would tell you to plan for replacement, and they are the two largest numbers you are likely to face in the next five years. That is a budgeting fact, not a defect, and no seller owes you a furnace for it.
9
Fee and turnaround
Posted, because you are under a contingency clock and you should not have to call three people to find out what this costs.
| House | Fee |
|---|---|
| Under 1,500 sq ft | $350 |
| 1,500 to 2,500 sq ft | $400 |
| 2,500 to 3,500 sq ft | $450 |
| Over 3,500 sq ft | quoted, and quoted before I come |
| Crawl space or basement, either one | included |
| Detached garage or shop | $40 |
| Re-inspection after repairs | $125 |
An inspection of a house this size takes about three hours and you are welcome to walk it with me for all of them. The written report is in your inbox the same evening, and always before the next morning, because a report that arrives on day nine of a ten day contingency is worth a fraction of what you paid for it.
I do not do repairs and I do not refer you to anyone who does. That is not a courtesy, it is the whole basis on which the report means anything.
Booked by phone. (816) 555-0132